42 pc polling in Bhiwandi by-election

Around 42 per cent voters exercised their franchise on Wednesday for the Assembly by-poll in Bhiwandi East constituency of Thane district.

“As of now, the tentative figure is 42 per cent. No case of bogus voting was registered,” said returning officer Revathi Gaikar.

In the first two hours only 3.95 per cent polling was recorded, which increased to 11.94 per cent by 11 am. The voter-turnout saw a steady increase from 18.91 per cent at 1 pm to 29.16 per cent at 3 pm. There are 2.23 lakh voters in the constituency.

Samajwadi Party Member of Legislative Assembly Abu Azmi, vacated the Bhiwandi (east) seat after he won from Mankhurd-Shivajinagar constituency in the Assembly election held in October 2009. Of the 10 candidates in the fray for the by-poll, six are independents. The other four are Samajwadi Party’s Farhan Azmi, Congress’ Muzaffar Hussain, Shiv Sena’s Rupesh Mhatre and National Lokhind Party’s Badiuzzamma Ali Khan.

Two platoons of SRPF, 200 home guards and 750 policemen were deployed at the 242 polling centres in the constituency. There was a minor altercation between police and shopkeepers when they were asked to shut their shops in Shantinagar. The counting of votes will be held on January 23.